Help with Malaysia Trip
 

I will be going to Malaysia for 8 days at the end of February. Will be flying into KL and staying two days. Where should we go after that? We love beautiful places and seeing the "real" country. Love nature and easy hiking. At night we like to stay at really nice hotels. I've been researching and it seems Borneo has everything we want. Would that be doable for just a few days or should we stay on the peninsula? Any help narrowing down my research will be greatly appreciated!

Stjohnbound:

Would suggest you fly to Borneo (Kota Kinabalu). It is good for at least 3 days. You can do the rainforest tour/canopy walk to the cone or to the orang utan sanctuary/if you have a few more days to spare - visit the turtle island of Selingan. Good hotel is the Shangri La Tanjung Aru or the Magelland.

Cheers

Joe Chan

Thank you JoeChan. Do you have any comments on Kuching? From what I've been reading it seems like a good base for trips to National Parks, etc. Thanks!

Between Kuching and Kota Kinabalu, I'd go for KK (more to see and do within a closer distance). Resorts are better in KK as well.

The main nature attraction in Sarawak is the Mulu Caves, but that's a good distance away from Kuching.

Stjohnbound:

Kuching is also good however the rainforest in Kota Kinabalu is a much bigger and has lots of botanic documentaiton when compared to the Bako National Park in Kuching. Primary reason for visitors going over to Kuching is the long house experience/Skrang river and Caving at Mulu. At Kota Kinabalu you can do all kinds of adventure from Canopy walk to the top of the cone/organ utan sanctuary-the best in Malaysia/Turtle island-endangered leather neck turtles going ashore to lay their eggs, all protected enviroment but opened to the public under the watchful eyes of the Park Ranger. Furtheraway you havve a choice of a few island getaways for the day or two. Take a longer driver you can visit the Sunday Market called TAMU where you can actually see the villagers bartering for everything you can imagine. Yeah, the traditional way. Excellent hotel infrastructure and transportation too! Hope this suffice.

Cheers

Joe Chan

JoeChan and Jchong, thank you both very much. I'm looking into both places now. Has anyone out there stayed at hotels/resorts in either of these places? Also, I've heard conflicting "dress" advice. A Malaysian told my husband that shorts are perfectly acceptable, but in all the guide books, etc. I read that it's best if you cover up more (unless of course you are going to a temple or something). Can anyone give me firsthand experience?

yes, you can wear shorts, even a very short one..and you can wear siglet..no restriction on the dress code...

What exactly is a siglet?

I think blossom meant "singlet", i.e. a sleeveless tank top.

And yes, shorts are fine (except for going to finer restaurants and maybe some temples).